


A Comedy of Romance

by ashitanoyuki



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Comedy of Errors, Diplomacy, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Good Lotor (Voltron), M/M, Multi, Other, Political Intrigue (but funny), Politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:09:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23488114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashitanoyuki/pseuds/ashitanoyuki
Summary: Iverson offers Shiro a new job as the Interplanetary Head of Intelligence for Earth. There's just one problem; to maintain the Garrison's cover, Shiro must officially retire and keep in contact via a spouse. Too bad he's already married!Keith and Shiro balance Shiro's requirement to marry an officer from the IGF Atlas. At least they don't have to be too concerned; Curtis's heart belongs to another man. But who is this man, and why is Curtis so determined to keep his lover-to-be from his husband, and his husband's husband?
Relationships: Curtis/Lotor, Fake Curtis/Shiro, Fake relationships and marriages, Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	A Comedy of Romance

Sam Holt, Officer of the Galaxy Garrison and IGF Atlas research technician, was buried nose-deep in a pile of reports when the door to his office slammed open unceremoniously, revealing a tall, portly officer – one with whom he was well acquainted.

Well. He supposed Iverson had just briefed Commander Shirogane on his new position, and had discovered the unfortunate flaw in his perfect plan. Sure, Sam could have warned Iverson when he’d presented the technicalities of Shiro’s new position to the other senior officers, but where would be the fun in that? He wished he could have seen the look on Shiro’s face when Iverson briefed him; that he could have been a fly on the wall to witness Shiro stutter his way through his explanation of why, really, he couldn’t take Iverson’s offer as it was presented.

 _“HOLT!”_ Iverson bellowed.

Sam fixed his glasses and offered Iverson a genial smile. “What can I do for you, sir?” he asked politely.

Iverson glared back, his reddened face practically steaming. “Were you,” he began, “at any point, _especially_ after Command finalized Officer Shirogane’s new cover, planning to give me a head’s up that the man is _already married?!”_

Sam bit back a smirk. “I assumed he would tell you himself when you presented your plan for his cover,” he said mildly. “It’s not so bad, is it? Your plan will just require a little tweaking, I’m sure. Maybe his _roommate_ can be his Garrison connection after he “retires,” rather than his _husband.”_

Iverson inhaled deeply through his nose, his good eye squeezing shut. “A roommate isn’t a close enough connection to merit giving a “retired” man continued access to the Garrison proper and a Garrison phone line, and you know it,” he barked. “And who is his husband, anyway? Why isn’t he listed in Shiro’s paperwork? Why isn’t there a record _anywhere on Earth_ of his marriage?!”

“I assume because they haven’t bothered to transfer the record officially from Daibazaal to Earth,” Sam said, fighting a grin. “Interplanetary marriages still hold legal weight on Earth, even if no certificate was ever signed and filed here. I’d guess they didn’t see any need to go through all that paperwork.”

Iverson, who had opened his mouth to speak, closed it and fixed Sam with a glare that, had Sam not known the man for the better part of twenty years, would have been intimidating. “Daibazaal, is it?” he growled. “You never answered my question, Holt. Who exactly is Shiro’s husband?”

“Ah,” Sam said, cheerfully giving up the fight to keep the smile from his face. “Well, you see, sir…”

* * *

Shiro stared blankly at his communications device. The time in the corner blinked 23:04; if his calculations were correct, it was somewhere close to three-in-the-morning in Daibazaal’s capital. six months, now, he’d been spending most of his time on Daibazaal with only days at a time to visit Earth; something about a delicate political situation so secret that even Shiro, his _husband,_ couldn’t know about it.

 _“Not a citizen of Daibazaal, Shiro,”_ his husband had pointed out when he’d pressed. _“You don’t have any Galra blood. Even our marriage doesn’t allow you citizenship – we’ll fix that when Kolivan and my mom have dealt with all the… more important cleanup.”_

10,000 years of war and conquest, and then the sudden cessation of that lifestyle, _had_ left the Galra, and therefore Daibazaal, with much bigger problems than interspecies citizenship – fine, Shiro could admit that.

So. His husband had been working long, grueling hours. The less Shiro bothered him, the sooner he could finish with his top-secret delicate political situation. The situation that was officially just another humanitarian project, now that the Blade of Marmora was no longer supposed to handle anything related to politics. Shiro should go to bed and save this conversation for the next time that his husband had a free moment to call him – it shouldn’t be more than a week. His husband was always so apologetic, even upset, when his duties kept him from calling longer than a week.

On the other hand, the position that Iverson had offered him, and its cover story… The Garrison needed an answer within the week. And he planned to turn them down – but just the _offer_ made him feel queasy. He needed to tell his husband what had happened that day.

So, damnit, Keith could suck up being called in the middle of the night. Shiro tapped his communicator, selecting the first name that came up.

His device blinked for several seconds, and then the hologram rose from his wrist device, revealing Keith’s grumpy face, haloed with a cloud of bed-mussed hair. At the edges, he could see the opulent bed in his husband’s quarters on the Galra homeworld, gifted to him as the Leader of the Blade of Marmora. Keith scowled, and Shiro’s heart melted at the sight of his husband – even as he squinted angrily and wiped a line of drool from his chin.

 _“Takashi, I love you, but you’d better have a good reason for waking me up less than halfway through the night cycle,”_ Keith grumbled, offering an unfairly adorable pout.

Shiro couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, and Keith’s eyes narrowed further. _“I mean it, Takashi,”_ he complained. _“We’ve got to spend tomorrow figuring out what to do with Lo – how to handle this situation. Krolia and Kolivan are at an impasse, Lahn’s calling for blood, and I think Dayak’s about ten seconds away from trading her whip for a blaster.”_

“Dayak?” Shiro asked – that wasn’t a name he was familiar with. From the way Keith winced, maybe Shiro wasn’t supposed to know that name. “No – this really is important, Keith.”

Keith sighed. _“Yeah, I know you wouldn’t call me this late over nothing,”_ he said. _“’M not actually mad. Just tired. I miss you.”_

Shiro’s heart puddled in his chest. “I miss you too, Keith,” he said.

Keith yawned. His communicator jerked, briefly showing the wall and the corner of his bed as he stretched. _“What’s up, Takashi?”_

Now that he was face-to-face – well, in a sense – with his husband, Shiro almost didn’t want to tell him. “Well,” he began. “You remember how I told you Iverson hinted he had a new assignment for me?”

Keith nodded, and Shiro steeled himself. “He wants me to take over as head of Earth’s inter-planetary intelligence.”

Keith’s eyes widened, and his face split into a grin. _“Shiro! That’s amazing!”_ he exclaimed. _“So that’s what you woke me up to tell me? Yeah, that’s worth it!”_

Shiro winced. If only that was it. “There’s more,” he said, grimacing.

Keith cocked his head. _“You don’t sound too happy,”_ he said.

“Well…” How to explain this to his _husband?_ “They want me to officially “retire,” to keep me out of the public eye,” he said. “No one will think to look for the head of Earth’s intelligence operations in the retirement lists.

Keith nodded. _“That makes sense,”_ he said. _“Not that no one would think to go after you as a former Paladin and Captain of the Atlas, but it would take the heat off you.”_

Trust his spy of a husband to think that way. “But to keep collecting intelligence, I’d need an excuse to have an “in” with the Garrison, and high-tech encrypted communications devices,” Shiro continued.

 _“Makes sense,”_ Keith said, _“but from the look on your face, I’m guessing you’re not too happy about your “in.””_

And bingo. Shiro sighed. “They want me to marry a Garrison officer. Spouses of officers, especially spouses with Garrison backgrounds, can be granted higher-levels of access and even carry a Garrison phone to speak to their spouses when they’re away on missions. Apparently, that’s the only “in” they have that will get me the clearance I need to get the intelligence I need for my job while still officially appearing “retired.””

Keith was silent for a long moment, and Shiro’s heart skipped a beat. “Keith?” he said tentatively. “Baby, I’m planning on turning down the job – I just wanted to tell you about the offer.”

 _“Don’t,”_ Keith said, shaking his head.

What?

 _“You don’t have to turn down the job,”_ Keith said. _“We’re legally married on Daibazaal, and yeah we get spousal rights on Earth, but technically, you can still marry someone else on Earth. Hell, even if we wanted to make it official on Earth, there are places that allow marriage to multiple people. Take the job, Takashi.”_

Shiro stared at his husband. “But I don’t _want_ to marry someone else!” he exclaimed. Unless… It would break his heart, but… “Keith, do you _want_ to open our marriage?”

Keith’s expression morphed into a scowl. _“_ Hell _no, Takashi,”_ he snarled. _“Don’t even think about that. It’s just… Your Earth marriage won’t even be a real marriage, just a legal one. Make sure your legal Earth husband – or wife,”_ he said, as Shiro made a reflexive face – _“knows it’s not actually going to turn into anything real.”_

Shiro shivered. “Good,” he said. “I don’t think Curtis – that’s the bridge officer they want me to marry,” he said, “wants to marry me any more than I want to marry him. But Keith – are you sure you’re okay with me marrying someone on Earth, even if it’s not real and in a place that allows multiple marriages?”

Keith shrugged. _“As long as your legal Earth husband knows about me – at least about my existence, and as long as there’s an option for us to register our marriage on earth at some point – then, yeah, marry him. Just don’t fall in love with him or anything, okay?”_

Shiro shuddered. Sure, Curtis was attractive, and in his younger years Shiro might have been interested in asking him out – but compared to Keith? He was nothing. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll talk to Curtis in the morning. But if he agrees to go through with this for the assignment, it doesn’t mean anything to me, all right?”

Keith yawned, and the communicator glitched slightly for a split second. _“I trust you, Takashi,”_ he said. _“I’ll see you soon. Let me know what Earth Husband has to say about our relationship and if you’re going through with it, all right?”_

“Shut up. I love you,” Shiro said, smiling at Keith.

Keith grinned and offered a lazy wave before blinking out of sight.

Well, damn. Shiro tapped his communicator a few times to enter calendar mode, and set an event for the next day.

_Discuss fake marriage with Curtis: Tell him about my husband._


End file.
